Legislation related to the Department of Energy and Climate Change is due for scrutiny later this year. Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the Guardian

The scrapping of environmental regulations this week became the focus of the government's "red tape challenge".

The government is consulting the public on which regulations it believes hold back business from being able to do its work. When the exercise winds up, all significant concerns will be taken seriously and it will be incumbent on the ministers and their departmental officials to prove why something should be retained.

But ministers this week failed to issue categoric defences of specific pieces of legislation, despite campaigners asking them to do so. In a letter sent out to "stakeholders", ministers of state Charles Hendry and Jim Paice - in the energy department and environment departments - have joined together to say they will not countenance any reduction in environmental protection.

The letter reads: "The government is committed to being the greenest government ever. Protecting and enhancing the natural environment and avoiding dangerous climate change is crucial to our long-term economic success and quality of life: there is no intention to reduce environmental protection or draw back from our climate change commitments. However, to support a sustainable green economy we have to make sure that our environmental, climate change and energy policies are being implemented in the most effective way possible, and our regulations are not strangling businesses and individuals with red tape." A similar statement has been published on the red tape challenge website.

The inclusion of all pieces of environmental regulation in the exercise has sparked a battle across Whitehall. The climate and energy secretary, Chris Huhne, used a speech to a gathering of Liberal Democrat activists in June to describe those calling for less environmental regulation as being "rightwing ideologues". He said they instead had a "real chance to define an evidence-based, intelligent and distinctive approach".

In his defence of environmental legislation, Huhne added: "Whatever the good intent, we have mistakenly given the impression that an exercise designed to scrap unnecessary minor bureaucratic hurdles is now placing the cornerstone of climate protection under threat. Of course this is nonsense. Let me assure you: there is a very good case for our key regulations protecting the environment to stay."

Paice and Hendry, both Conservative ministers, are now seeking advice from the public on which pieces of environmental regulation could be made more transparent. The letter continued: "If you have particular thoughts, for example on how we could improve transparency of environmental/energy data, take innovative approaches to compliance of environmental/energy measures, or change default behaviour, please share them with us."

The red tape challenge is focused on environmental regulations relevant to Defra for the next three weeks, with legislation related to the Department of Energy and Climate Change due for scrutiny in November.